As you drive through the foothills of the Dolomite Mountains, looking at snow-capped peaks and wide, dried rivers, it’s hard to imagine that one of world’s largest eyewear manufacturers and distributors is headquartered here.
That is, until a valley opens up to reveal a large industrial estate, and one of the largest buildings is emblazoned with the Marcolin logo. As you meander around the estate to get to the HQ, you notice, Safilo, De Rigo and a collection of independent eyewear manufacturers. This is the heart of Italian eyewear production.
Marcolin is a company on the move. Since 2012 when the company was bought and delisted by PAI Partners, it has increased turnover from €204m to €432m in 2015. The number of frames sold per year has tripled, from 4.5m to 14.2m and there are now more than 2,000 styles launched every year compared to 800 in 2012.
Growth can, in part, be attributed to the acquisition of Viva Eyewear in 2013. The company’s CEO Giovanni Zoppas says there has been a gradual shift of emphasis towards ophthalmic frame sales since the purchase, which he says adds resilience to business because of the predictable nature of the medical market. Viva’s collection of brands, such as Guess and Gant have created a wider, more inclusive portfolio, which is weighted between what the company refers to as diffusion and luxury.
History
Marcolin’s luxury origins can be found in 1961 when Giovanni Marcolin started Fabbrica Artigiana in the eyewear district of Cadore. The company specialised in the production of gold laminated temples. After only three years, the company morphed into Marcolin Occhiali Doublé, named after the laminate used in its products. In 1967, Marcolin opened a factory in Vallesella di Cadore and launched its first line of products. The following years saw the company expand overseas, growing in the United States and European markets, acquiring new licences on the way. The general headquarters moved to Longarone and the acetate production started.
An Italian CEO that says it has a ‘family atmosphere’ is bound to conjure up images of the mafia, jokes Zoppas, but this really is not the case. What he means is that everyone in the process can have their say – all input is valued. The average age of staff at the company has fallen by 10 years, from 45 to 35, making it more dynamic and creative with ideas. A team of 70 creatives split between Italy and the US are encouraged to travel the world in search of inspiration, getting tastes for what people are wearing.
Design and interpretation are as much a focus for the company as high quality production. Getting each brand’s DNA is one of the key areas and matching it with manufacturing ability and innovation, is a unique aspect of the company and one that enables it to build long standing relationships with its licence partners, says Zoppas.
The company’s Tom Ford agreement is a perfect example of this long term thinking. The current agreement runs until 2029, a length of time virtually unheard of in the licenced eyewear business. But it’s not difficult to see why the agreement runs for so long.
Frames have a four-day tumbling process before being polished and painstakingly hand-finished
‘We are very proud to have renewed the licence agreement with Tom Ford till 2029, which is a confirmation of our capability to combine our know-how and heritage with the brand’s values transferring them into eyewear. In addition, this renewal is the result of a partnership based a solid mutual respect,’ says Zoppas.
Tom Ford has been one of the success stories of eyewear over the past decade and Marcolin and the brand is clearly on the same wavelength when it comes to design and production. It even has its own dedicated team of creatives at Longarone working on new designs and concepts.
Getting inside each brand is the first part of a four phase project. Other elements at this juncture include producing a marketing plan and forecasting expected price point and profit margins.
Design
Phase two is the creative part of the process. Material options are scrutinised and the sketches of designers are turned into 3D CAD drawings. As Optician moves around the company’s design department, this realisation of licensor values becomes apparent. A perfect example of this is the prototyping of new sunglass models for a forthcoming Roberto Cavalli collection. In the designer’s jewellery lines, metal snakes are used to wrap around fingers for rings or over watch faces, and these elements have been reinterpreted in a sunglass. The jewel encrusted snake twists around the side of the sunglass, hiding the joint where the frame splits to allow the snake to be slid over.
Sketches are made into 3D CAD drawings
In 2014, the company made a commitment to the principle of Made in Italy production, with a new manufacturing facility in Longarone, a mile or so away from the main site. ‘This allowed the company to effectively double acetate frame production in the country, serving new luxury sector brands attracted to manufacturing that is a seal of creativity and quality, expressed by the local artisan tradition,’ says Zoppas.
The company says the decision has already given positive returns, both in terms of production quality and time-to-market improvements. The new facility also allows the company to react faster to market or licensee demands – more so than Luxottica or Safilo, for example. Fortogna can produce a run of 150 frames very quickly, says the company.
Production phase begins once concepts have been signed off by the brands. The size of investment in Longarone is appreciable when you see the first part of the production process, cutting the large acetate sheets into smaller blocks ready be cut by rows of five-axis CNC machines, the very latest in machining technology that allows the cutting tools to rotate over a total of four axes. This brings additional creative options for frame machining as well as additional output.
The workshop
Frames then move through a four-day tumbling process before being polished and painstakingly hand-finished. Tom Ford brings an extra challenge for the Fortogna staff, as the metal T logo on the fronts and the temples must align perfectly and any inconsistencies in the machining of the acetate will make this process impossible.
When it comes to retailing the finished products, Marcolin has a simple approach. Its clients sell the products. Across optics, the lines between companies that supply opticians and companies that compete with opticians are becoming increasingly blurred.
Business
Zoppas (pictured below) makes it clear that Marcolin is a wholesaler and manufacturer and not a retailer, but is this becoming more relevant to the company’s customers? ‘It’s appealing for sure, because we work with our clients, who know that the company is a client and not a competitor,’ he says.
‘We are also focusing on the job we always do – wholesale. It’s a completely different job to retail. I don’t see any reason at the moment why Marcolin would move into that area. In my view, you need to be a really big retailer that can leverage the benefits of its supply chains for that to work, otherwise it makes little sense.’
Licencing issues have stung eyewear companies in recent years, with Safilo losing key brands such as Gucci to its fashion house owner, Kering. In light of what happened when Kering ended its agreements early, does Zoppas worry about Marcolin losing any of its own portfolio? ‘Not really, no. We don’t know what Kering’s approach is going to be yet. We have to wait, keep calm and see how their own project pans out. We also work to make sure our relationships with licensees is very strong.’
Optician made the trip to Longarone just before the EU referendum vote on June 23. It asked Zoppas what a potential vote to leave the EU could mean for the company. ‘In the UK, our business is markedly split between the high end luxury sector, which traditionally is shielded from economic uncertainty, and the lower end of the market with our diffusion products which can thrive in times of difficulty, so we do not feel like a vote to leave the EU will have much of an impact on us or customers,’ he says.
Marcolin sales in the UK itself are positive and a result of the diverse portfolio the company now has says Zoppas: ‘We have a selection of brands at different ends of the spectrum, like Timberland and Mont Blanc that are popular with patients. Being able to operate in each sector of the market really helps the company.’
